As you should know under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, all gas appliances must be checked by a professional tradesman on an annual basis with a Landlord Gas Safety Certificate being issued to the tenants.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued guidance confirming that Agents and landlords need to use their best efforts to continue to deliver these obligations and should document all communication with tenants if they are unable to do so due to the virus.
If an agent or landlord anticipates difficulties in gaining access as the Coronavirus situation progresses, they have the flexibility to carry out annual gas safety checks two months before the deadline date. Landlords can have the annual gas safety checks at their properties carried out any time from 10 to 12 calendar months after the previous check and still retain the original deadline date as if the check had been carried out exactly 12 months after the previous check.
You should therefore arrange your annual gas safety checks as early as possible, as a contingency against tenants being in self-isolation for a period of 14-days (in line with current guidelines), or gas engineers being unavailable due to illness.
In the event that a property is inaccessible, e.g. persistent refusal of access due to vulnerable tenants self-isolating, agents and landlords will be expected to be able to demonstrate that they took reasonable steps to comply with the law. This will need to include records of communication with the tenant and details of their engineers attempts to gain access.
Should you wish to read more details around this topic please visit the Gas Safe Register's website by clicking here.
If you are struggling and aren't sure of your obligations, please do not hesitate to contact us. As always, we are here to help!
Sarah
Our new Client Money Protection Certificate is now available to view.
In line with the CMP legislation that came into force on the 1st April 2019, an electronic version of the CMP certificate provided by Propertymark must be displayed on our website and a hard copy displayed prominently in every branch. Please click here to view our certificate; https://www.mandmprop.co.uk/lettings-property-management
Should you wish to find out more about Client Money Protection, click here to read PropertyMarks information booklet.
We are so pleased to announce that once again we have been recognised by Feefo for our excellent customer service to our Customers and have received the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award 2020.
This is an independent seal of excellence that recognises businesses for delivering exceptional experiences, rated by actual customers.
As all reviews are verified as genuine, the accreditation is a true reflection of a business’s commitment to outstanding service.
Feefo have given Platinum Trusted Service awards to businesses who have achieved Gold standard for three consecutive years. The Feefo Gold Trusted Service award recognises those who have collected at least 50 Feefo reviews in a year, and have achieved a service rating of at least 4.5.
We’re very excited to receive this award because it’s based on the feedback of real customers, who are the most important judges of all. It recognises how hard we work to give all our customers the best possible experience. Everyone at M&M is fully committed to the highest quality of service, so it’s important for us to listen, understand and respond to all our customers. The beauty of Feefo is that it enables us to consistently improve, so we’re looking forward to another successful year.
You can read all of our fantastic reviews by clicking here.